A group called the Kerala Cyber Warriors (KCW) hacked the website of the Central University of Jammu on April 16, The Wire reports. The hack came just days after south Indian students at the university were allegedly attacked and dubbed “beef-eaters” and “anti-nationals” by members of the ABVP, the student wing of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh. The report cites the hackers’ demand for those involved in the attack as well as the vice-chancellor to be dismissed, and warned of possible ransomware attacks. The site is now functional one again, and the university has since registered a police complaint seeking an “in-depth investigation to expose anti-social elements” and requested the cyber cell of the J&K police to trace the hackers, as per The Tribune.

Who are the Kerala Cyber Warriors?

KCW, a group of self-proclaimed ‘hacktivists’, formed in October 2015, disbanded in January 2018, and relaunched in August 2018 with 17 members and 2 admins. They have carried out around twelve attacks in total, details of which are documented on their Wikipedia page. Its targets have included the websites of right-wing Hindu organisations in India, as well as Pakistan and Bangladesh:

Earlier this year KCW hacked the website of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha after the organisation recreated the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi on January 30, New Indian Express reported.

It had previously hacked the ABHM website in August 2018 after the organisation’s chief, Swami Chakrapani, blamed the Kerala floods on beef eaters and said only those who did not eat beef should be rescued, the paper reported.

In April 2017 KCW hacked the website of the Pakistan Academy for Rural Development to protest the death sentence given to alleged Indian spy Kulbhushan Jadhav by a Pakistani military court, per News18.

In 2016, KCW hacked into more than 15 Bangladeshi websites, including several belonging to the government, after Bangladeshi fans morphed a gory, cartoonish image showing their star player Taskin Ahmed holding the severed head of India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, BBC said.